


Trusting Once More

by queermoraghid (TheDoctorIsIcecube)



Category: Xenoblade Chronicles 2 (Video Game)
Genre: Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Past Character Death, Spoilers, Torna: The Golden Country DLC, mild violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-25
Updated: 2018-09-29
Packaged: 2019-07-17 11:55:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,225
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16095167
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheDoctorIsIcecube/pseuds/queermoraghid
Summary: After the dust settled and all the nightmares were over, Mikhail ended up in a dead-end town in Mor Ardain. With no one to protect him and no one he could trust, it felt like the whole world was against him. A chance encounter with two faces he never thought he'd see again, let alone together, left everything spiralling out of the realms of the ordinary once more.





	1. Encounter

**Author's Note:**

> Someone: hey did you know that no one cares about your third different interpretation on how Mikhail ended up back with Jin and Malos  
> Me: huh sorry what were you saying I don't know what you mean of course people like me spamming the Xenoblade 2 tag with a bunch of Mikhail

There was a thief who lived on the outskirts of town. Everyone knew about it. People who came into the town via the road from the city almost always came under attack if they travelled by night. It was regular, and everyone knew about it. They had a description of the thief: dark, silent, violent. The thief stole food or money. Nothing else. No one had ever really seen him clearly- he was a little too small, a little too fast, and always precise in what he wanted. The thief had so far eluded every attempt to catch him; no human was quick enough to even try.

The rumours at first were that it was a new arrival to the town, because it was a small town and they were always suspicious of new people. But as the problem stretched on, the rumour started to spread that it was a ghost, or perhaps some other form of vengeful spirit. Someone who had been wronged, or a thief who had died in prison. Whatever it was, it had people decidedly on edge.

The truth, although less spiritual in nature, was perhaps just as macabre. The thief was a young boy, not much more than ten, hiding for his life after escaping a twisted captor. He'd happened upon an incredibly unfortunate life that had treated him with nothing but disdain. After everything he'd suffered through, everything he'd lost...there was no reason to trust the people of the town with his wellbeing. They wouldn't treat him with charity or acceptance. They wouldn't be concerned for his livelihood or offer him any comfort in this cruel world. He'd discovered that far too long ago in his short life.

So, he stole from them. It wasn't something he took much pleasure in, but it was his only option. Survival was his only priority, and he had learned long ago that only he had his best interests in mind now. No one else would protect him.

Money was best to take. With money, he could buy what he needed; the right quantities of food, blankets for his makeshift shelter in the abandoned house without windows. He couldn't take blankets from the victims, because they were too difficult to carry off. Food was sometimes lacking, or tasted awful, but it had its advantages. Mostly that money forced him to venture into the town.

The people there never suspected him for what he was, of course. To the untrained eye, he was a small, scruffy boy with a fondness for scarves, too wide-eyed and innocent and certainly too clumsy to ever rob anyone in the dead of night. It showed him how easily fooled humans were, but also how shallow and uncaring. A cold, scruffy boy alone buying things in the market, that none of them had ever seen before he showed up and started buying things. They never checked if he had a parent. They never realised what the scarf was hiding. Maybe they just feigned ignorance so they didn't have to care.

It wasn't like there weren't a whole lot of other horrors in the world these days. Everyone likely just tried to ignore the small things going on in their home town so that they could pity those facing bigger problems elsewhere. It took less energy for them that way.

And it was on a night just like any of the other dark, dry nights he'd struggled to keep himself awake for that life started to change. It was just past one in the morning, by the reckoning of his new scarily accurate body clock. Two men were walking down the road he hid at the side of. One was leaning on the other; perfect. By the look of the leaning man's white hair, he was dealing with an elderly man and the person protecting him. A fast and easy target for a mugging.

He laid low in the bushes, keeping his breathing even and quiet, trying not to as much as stir the leaves around him. Every moment of surprise helped. Not that he needed to surprise these two, because they were walking through the night without a lamp. Idiots. He grasped the knife he held tightly in his left hand, shifting it slightly to a position to strike. He'd come up behind the older man and hold a knife to the man's throat. The dark haired man would get the message and hand over his pack, if he knew what was good for him.

If not? Well, it wouldn't be the first or last time the thief killed someone to get something he needed.

He waited for the pair to walk past. Neither of them were speaking, only walking in silence. Hopefully exhausted, seeing as that would make this all the easier. They passed slowly; the elderly man was practically stumbling along, leaning very heavily on the other man. If they weren't so close to the town, the thief would doubt that they'd even make it all the way there, what with the monsters that were sometimes out here.

The moment came. He slid out of his hiding spot as quietly as possible, thought really hard in the direction of the world around him, and willed himself to reach the elderly man quickly enough to take the pair by surprise.

Surprise was certainly one thing to call it. The moment the man was right next to him, he jerked away from the one who'd been holding him up, lost his balance, and fell over practically on top of the would be thief. The boy attempted to hold a knife to the man's throat, but now he was up close, he recognised him. He very nearly stumbled backwards from surprise. 

"Money," he managed, waving his knife in the direction of the man's throat. He recognised the accompanying figure all too well. This felt like a nightmare. He must have fallen asleep at the side of the road. But still, he had to conquer this fear. "Give it, and he goes free."

The man reached for his belt, and the boy tensed. He'd never really seen someone who fought back before and he didn't think it was possible to slit a blade's throat with a fairly blunt knife. "Think you've got the guts to rob us, eh?" The man asked, his voice coarse. It made his stomach crawl.

"Give him some money, Malos," the voice said, and all the boy's worst fears were confirmed. He didn't understand. What was going on? This couldn't be real. It couldn't. "He's a blade."

The taller man scowled, then dug into a small bag on his belt and tossed a few coins onto the floor. Shocked as he was, the boy barely registered what was going on before his captive pulled away from him, stumbling away with Malos half-dragging him.

That had been- that had been Jin. Jin. Propped up by Malos. Still propped up by Malos. The pair of them resumed their slow progress to the town while he scrabbled on the ground to pick the coins up. There was plenty here, thankfully, enough to buy the food he needed for maybe a little while. But he needed a new coat, too, with it getting closer to winter... he'd have to stay out for the rest of the night.

-

It was a long night. They always were when he had things to do. Mikhail was just glad that no one had ever made the connection between the brutal night thief, and the quiet little boy who spent his mornings buying enough food in the market to feed a family of four. It made sense, really. He could have sickly parents, or maybe a sickly mother and a drunk father and a baby sibling or two for good measure. In his mind, that was the excuse he'd give if anyone ever asked why he bought so much. But they never asked, and they never asked if he could even carry all of it by himself. They didn't care as long as he gave them money.

The truth, of course, was that he ate it all himself. It scared him, truly, how much food he could consume now that he'd...changed. Too much for any normal human, even a fully grown one. Today wasn't a day he felt hungry. Today was a day where he hadn't even pulled himself out of sleep until the sun had completely risen and his whole body had been stone cold. He wanted to go back to sleeping, but he knew he needed to buy the food. Or he might split it between food and a blanket.

He walked into the market like usual, drawing his scarf in close to his chest and managing a faint smile at a stallholder who waved to him. None of the food ever looked appetising when he wasn't hungry- he either wanted everything, or nothing. He tried to think about what he'd eaten before, what kept and what didn't. The fruit and vegetables were out, they'd go off too quickly. The bread was tempting but leaving it in his shelter where it was freezing made it hard to eat. Looking at meat when he wasn't hungry made him feel sick, and it was too much money anyway. This never got any easier.

Before he could make any decisions, though, two people in the corner of the market caught his eye and he froze. Jin and Malos. Panicked, he looked around, trying to figure out where he could hide. Maybe they hadn't noticed him yet. Maybe they wouldn't recognise him at all. But that, and the fact that he really just wanted to go back to bed right now, told him that he should just leave. Turn around and hope they wouldn't bother him. Leave the problem of buying food to tomorrow him, who would hopefully have more of an appetite. So he turned around, ducked his head, and hurried off out of the marketplace. No more than twenty seconds later, someone grabbed his shoulder and spun him around. Architect, he really had rotten luck.

"This is him," Malos said, his eyes narrowed. Scrutinising him. Mikhail didn't know what to do. He couldn't run, he couldn't hide. He'd already tried all of that. If he made a fuss, the townspeople could easily find out he was the thief, and he didn't think that would be a situation that was any better. "Definitely a blade."

"Rather small for a blade," came Jin's voice, and Mikhail did his best to hide his face. He didn't want Jin knowing what had happened to him. He couldn't- "Hold on... Malos, that's not a blade. That's- Mikhail? Architect, you're alive?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," he said, his voice shaking. "I- my driver. Is ill. I need to get back." He kept his voice low, hoping that none of the people at the stalls were listening in. He was afraid. This was meant to work. It wasn't meant to come crashing down like this.

"Liar," Malos said sharply. Jin swatted him aside, bending down, and the look on his face made Mikhail want to cry. 

"Who are you? You look exactly like Mikhail, but Malos is right, I can feel your ether..."

"Let me go," he said. He didn't know what to do. "I- I don't know you. I don't know who Mikhail is. Let me go."

"Yeah, no. You're not linked to any driver, I'd know if you were. You're something like Jin, aren't you?" How did Malos know so much about him? It was terrifying. 

"That's not possible, Malos. Mikhail is human. And this is definitely him, he even sounds the same." Mikhail could feel his sluggish heart rate catching up with his situation now. Jin had recognised him. Malos knew he wasn't a normal blade. And Jin was- Jin had recognised him. Which meant...that. He couldn't imagine anything worse happening right now.

"Well, either this isn't your precious kid, or something pretty fucked up has happened here." Malos took a tight grip on his arm all of a sudden. "Either way, I think we should ask him a few questions."

They were unsure. They didn't know what was going on. That...that was Mikhail's only chance right now. He didn't know what Malos would do to him when he found out the truth, or what Jin would do, or anything. This was so uncertain, so he just needed to throw them off. Then they'd go away, and he'd be left alone again, and it would all be fine. He'd just go quiet. He was good at that, when he needed to be. If he just stayed quiet, and didn't give anything away about who he was or how he was here, maybe they'd let him go and leave him alone.

"You were heading back to your driver, kid, weren't you?" Malos asked, no small amount of malice in his voice. "Well, maybe we can help you with that. You take us back to them, and we'll see what we can do." Mikhail didn't say anything. Clearly Malos knew he'd been lying about having a driver, and there was no way around that. He looked at the floor, and kept his mouth shut, and didn't move a muscle.

"Oh, come on," he said. "You're a blade with no driver in a country incredibly closely linked to Indol." Mikhail flinched. "I'd say you're afraid. And rightly so. But we told the innkeeper we were mugged. And you have that stolen money on you right now. You cannot win in this situation. So take us back to where you've been hiding away, and you can answer some questions."

The last thing he wanted to do was show Malos his hideaway. Or Jin, for that matter. Especially if Jin was inexplicably working with Malos. But Mikhail didn't see that he had much of a choice. The iron grip on his arm was only getting tighter every second he stood around hesitating. "Right, we'll do it your way, then," Malos said, and before Mikhail could react, Malos kicked him in the shins and used the force to pick him up off the ground. Jin still did nothing to stop what was happening as Malos carried him, struggling all the way, out of the market and into a dark, winding street.

For a minute, Mikhail thought he was going to be dropped onto the floor and beaten until he talked, which was never going to work. But Malos carried him further, into a dark inn off the main city path, where the innkeeper didn't even question the fact that two of his tenants were bringing back a struggling child. They got into the room, and it was surprisingly...warm. Not awful. It had windows with glass in them and actual furniture. Mikhail watched as Jin locked the door behind them and then Malos dropped him on the larger of two chairs in the room. "Talk," Malos said. "There's no one out there to hear it anymore."

Mikhail folded his arms across his chest, covering up the jagged core crystal pressed into his chest. He didn't want to talk. He didn't know what to say. He was angry now, angry at Malos for not being dead when good people were, angry at Jin for siding with him. When he didn't say anything, Malos didn't say anything. Malos walked over to the window and checked it was shut tightly. He walked back. Jin stood there for a moment, and then sat down on the other chair. Neither of them said anything to him. They were waiting, obviously, but they would have to wait for a long time. He wasn't saying anything.

He still felt weak, and tired. Today was one of those days where it felt like that awful lump in his chest was sucking the life out of him, burning him up to keep itself intact. Mikhail looked at the floor, not trusting himself not to say something to Malos if he kept looking at him. He was so, so angry at him, and at Jin. At all of this.

-

He wasn't sure how much later it was when he woke up. He hadn't even realised he'd been falling asleep, he'd just been so tired all day. In the moment it took him to remember where he was, his panic shot through the roof, and it didn't calm down. He couldn't calm down. He was still sitting in the chair, although more uncomfortably before, but now he sat bolt upright. Whilst he'd been asleep, someone had tied one of his ankles to the chair, so he couldn't move unless he wanted to awkwardly limp around.

Architect what could he even do in this situation? His vision blurred, reacting to the panic as he realised that he was trapped here. He'd done nothing in that marketplace as they'd just...intimidated him into silence. He should have said something, tried something, done anything to get himself out of this situation but now he was trapped. He struggled to free his leg, the chair rattling against the floor as he wriggled. The noise had clearly attracted attention- only a minute later, Jin came out from the next room. Mikhail shot him a look that very clearly said 'I wish you were dead'.

"It won't help," Jin said. Mikhail shot him another dirty look and resumed trying to untie his leg. How had it even managed to be this tight without waking him? "Just say something. Tell me what happened and it will be fine." Mikhail said nothing. He wasn't going to talk to someone who had betrayed the cause that half of his only friends had died for. As far as he was concerned, Jin was the enemy now. Just as bad as Malos.

"I know what this looks like," Jin said, seemingly reading his mind. "It's not how I wanted things to be. But things are how they are. I cannot change that."

Mikhail wanted to call Jin out on his rubbish, but he didn't want to break the silence he was managing to build up. Jin could free him right now and leave Malos. Mik wouldn't trust him instantly, but...it wouldn't be this. He cast a pointed look down at his leg, and then back up at Jin. Oh, he really wished he had a big sharp knife on him now. It would be really satisfying to make Jin know just how much he'd hurt Mikhail.

"I'm not letting you go," Jin said. "I need to know what happened." Mikhail knew that, logically, he should say his piece and get it done with. They'd let him go, maybe. But he only had the tiniest scrap of pride left after falling asleep on the chair in this room; he was going to hold on to it for as long as he could.

So, he kept his mouth shut, leaned back in the chair, and folded his arms defiantly. Jin wasn't getting anything out of him, not unless he untied him, and maybe not even then. Mikhail really didn't appreciate being betrayed. "Malos doesn't want to be nice about this," Jin said. "But Mikhail, you're just a child. Don't be angry about this. We can get revenge on this world that did this to you." If that had been said in any other situation, it would have been very, very tempting to agree. But this was Jin working with Malos.

So, he lifted one hand, and made the rudest gesture he knew. Jin sighed, but he didn't attempt to say anything else. He just settled down in a chair opposite Mikhail, folding his arms and regarding him silently.

Well, he was at a loss now. He was sort of worried about what would happen when Malos showed up again. Would he shout? Would he try and beat it out of him? He healed quickly, but he still felt the pain. Not that it could compare to That, but it could still hurt. And he was hungry, too. His stomach kept making rumbling noises that were getting louder each time and he wouldn't last long if he didn't get fed.

"Are you hungry?" Obviously his stomach was loud enough to be heard by other people, then. Ugh. That was the last thing Mikhail wanted. He didn't respond, just scowled at Jin and tucked his arms in against his stomach in an attempt to muffle the noise. And then Jin chuckled. Mikhail felt anger flare up again; how dare he laugh at him while denying him food. "Living alone taking it out of you, I see," he said, and then stood up. "There's not much here. But have it."

He walked to a cupboard at the edge of the room, and pulled out a loaf of bread. It looked a little stale, but still, Mikhail's mouth watered at the sight of it. He wanted it so badly. No- it was more than that now- he NEEDED it. Okay, it was bad. He was dimly aware that he was a captive here and he shouldn't be showing any weaknesses but he hadn't eaten yesterday. And now his body was demanding food with a ferocity that scared him, but not nearly enough to put him off his food. When Jin brought the loaf of bread near him, Mikhail snatched it from his hands and tore into it with his teeth immediately. He didn't say a word, just started eating as fast as he could, in case Jin decided to take the food away again.

"Calm down," Jin said immediately. Mikhail ignored him. "Stop. Mikhail, stop. Humans aren't meant to eat that much in one go." Jin was right, and it scared him. It scared him because he wasn't meant to. Because he wasn't human anymore and he didn't understand what was happening to him. But he didn't stop eating. Maybe if he scared Jin as well, it would get him to do something about him being tied to a chair. Maybe he'd be convinced that getting out of here was the best idea.

The bread was finished faster than he wanted it to be. He was still hungry when it was all gone, and he was left staring at his empty hands, feeling vaguely ashamed about the whole situation. It hadn't happened in front of someone else before he'd...escaped. Being caught again, this happening in front of another person again, all of it just made him feel awful inside. But he didn't let that show. He glared up at Jin, who looked shocked into silence more than anything. Good. Finally he could stop saying so many self-righteous things.

"Malos is buying food," Jin said. "If you still need more when he gets back then you can have some. When did you last eat?" He sounded pitying. He probably thought that Mikhail hadn't eaten in a week. Mikhail said nothing, but he hoped that the look on his face conveyed that he had in fact eaten quite recently. Jin certainly looked a little taken aback, which was exactly what he'd been hoping for.

"Just talk, Mikhail," Jin said, and he sounded almost upset. "I want to help. Something bad happened to you. But nothing can be done and nothing can be helped if you won't say a word to let us do something." Maybe Jin should have thought twice before siding with the enemy if he wanted to hear about Mikhail's life since they'd last met. He just kept up a stubborn glare, firmly refusing to speak to him.

Jin muttered something under his breath and moved away from where he was sat in front of him. He was still very close, doing something in the half of the room that Mikhail couldn't see without twisting around to look at, and he didn't want to do that because it would make Jin think that he cared, or that he was worried. So he sat there very stubbornly, and just waited. Presumably they couldn't just keep him tied up here forever. Some day they'd have to let him go. And then he could just go back to normal. Maybe.


	2. Provocation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Malos isn't particularly fond of Mikhail.

Malos was not pleased that he wouldn't break his silence. He'd returned with two large bags full of food and immediately set on threatening to withhold it if Mikhail refused to talk. Mikhail wasn't convinced. He was hungry, but they couldn't do anything if he was too hungry to talk or move. They wanted to know what had happened to him, after all. Jin didn't look too keen on the whole 'withholding food' idea, either. He wasn't actively stopping Malos from doing it, but Mikhail knew a conflicted Jin when he saw one. He was having second thoughts.

Mikhail didn't know what kind of deal Jin and Malos had come to, but it didn't take long for food to end up in front of him again. He wasn't nearly as desperate as he'd been before, but he definitely didn't restrain himself when getting as much food inside himself as he could. He didn't know when he'd get to eat again - he didn't even know when he'd next be hungry enough to eat. Malos watched him eat in fascination, and Jin's expression seemed to be shifting between horror and concern. Good. Mikhail wanted him to see just how much he had suffered. How much he had changed.

"Are humans meant to be like this?" Malos asked quietly, apparently forgetting that human ears could also hear. Mikhail wanted to roll his eyes, but Malos' words sort of hurt at the same time. He wasn't how humans were meant to be anymore.

Jin shook his head, and Malos raised both eyebrows in a 'huh' sort of way. It really was satisfying to see him get confused like this. Mikhail thought he could get used to the sight of that expression. "Something's wrong," Jin said, looking directly at Mikhail's chest, right where the core crystal was hidden under three layers of clothing and a scarf. "But he won't say what it is."

"I'd beat it out of him, but one of us thinks hitting bratty children is a bad idea," Malos grumbled. "And the damn kid isn't talking any other way, is he? So I guess we're stuck."

"Hitting children is a bad idea, Malos," Jin said. "It's much better if you just act in a way that means they have reason to trust you." Mikhail almost scoffed, because Jin had decided to give him plenty of reasons to never trust him ever again. And telling Malos not to hit him wouldn't change that. He shot Jin the most cynical look he could manage. Jin didn't even have the decency to look even a tiny bit sheepish. Mikhail scowled, pushing away the remains of his food and folding his arms again.

"Finally done, after eating enough to last me a week?" Malos asked. Mikhail didn't respond. He wasn't hungry anymore. He could probably eat more if he wanted to, but he didn't think he could stomach much more with these two watching him. "Feeling like talking yet?" Mikhail sneered as condescendingly as he possibly could. Malos wasn't getting anything out of him. He was scum, he was evil, he was responsible for the destruction of everything that Mikhail had ever had.

"Has he always had an attitude?" Malos asked, glaring at him. Mikhail tried to pretend that he wasn't scared, but...Malos was scary. Even if he was different to how he was before, he was still scary.

"Yes," Jin said. "But not like this."

"I don't know how you put up with him," Malos said. Mikhail tried not to be insulted, hoping that he could manage to look defiant instead.

Jin sighed. "You tell us what we need to do for you to open up, then, Mikhail," he said. He thought about it, though he really wasn't intending answering. Maybe if they provided proof that Indol was sinking into the Cloud Sea. Or if Jin turned around right now and stabbed Malos straight through his stupid core crystal, perhaps then he might open up to Jin. But judging from the way the two of them kept looking at each other like friends, that wasn't going to be happening any time soon.

"He's not going to answer," Malos said. "If he hadn't spent so much time lying through his teeth to us yesterday, I would think he couldn't speak at all." Clearly frustrated, Malos kicked the chair leg that Mikhail's ankle wasn't tied to. Mikhail tried very hard not to flinch. He failed, to his great annoyance. He hoped that Malos hadn't noticed, but the smirk on his face told him that he probably had. Ugh.

"He's just a child, Malos," Jin said. He still sounded so neutral, so...he didn't really care. He didn't really object to Malos trying to scare him.

"He's a child who held a knife to your throat and has an ether flow like any blade," Malos said, pacing the floor behind Mikhail. He could tell that he was there. He wouldn't give him the satisfaction of turning around. "I bet he has a core crystal under those layers of clothing, and he's hiding it like it's shameful."

"He wasn't a blade when I knew him," Jin said. "So if he is now, something's changed. Something's very wrong. I don't know how this could have happened. Mik, please- we won't hurt you. Tell us what happened to you."

"We could just find out what's going on in his chest," Malos said. Mikhail felt fear grip him, and he desperately tried to keep it off his face. Jin was acting all concerned, but he didn't think he'd help him if Malos really wanted something. "But we can't touch the child, can't hurt the child. He's not any different just because he's a little kid."

"If we want him to ever trust us, ripping off his shirt isn't going to help with that," Jin said sternly. "We're going to wait until he speaks to us, and we're going to be nice to him." Mikhail badly wanted to point out that they'd literally tied him to a chair. How nice could they possibly be?

"You think he's not smart enough to just eat this food and sleep in a warm room and not say anything?" Malos asked. He hadn't thought of that one yet, but it was a pretty good idea. He'd even go for it if Malos wasn't so terrifying and this wasn't just so confusing and humiliating and so scary. He was scared. He hadn't liked being out on his own but this was worse.

"But if he grows to trust us, he might open up of his own accord." Mikhail scoffed. There was no chance of that happening any time soon. He wasn't going to talk to murderers and traitors.

"Well, I think we know what the kid thinks of that," Malos said. "He hates me, and I don't blame him. Who in their right mind wouldn't? He probably hates you as well. He's not a happy kid full of endless trust and happiness."

"Give him time," Jin snapped. "Being pessimistic isn't helping here." Mikhail couldn't help but feel smug that he had been here less than a day and he already seemed to be causing some infighting.

Malos just made a disgusted noise and leaned over the back of the chair, practically breathing down Mikhail's neck. He couldn't stop a noise of fear escaping his lips. "You're going to have to talk, kid, sooner or later," he said. The noise was right in his ear and too loud too loud. He flinched away from the sound, his hands flying around to the back of his head to protect his skull.

As he moved to protect his head, he caught Malos in the face, and Mikhail heard him growl in anger. The next thing he knew, Jin was striding forwards, and Mikhail turned around just in time to see Jin grab a hand that had been headed towards Mikhail's face. "You are not hurting him," Jin said, and the anger in his voice...Mikhail hadn't heard anything like it from Jin before. Not even when he was protecting Lora. "Mikhail is twelve years old. He was defending himself from an unseen attacker and I won't stand for you hurting him for that."

"You're too soft, Jin," Malos said, but he backed off anyway. Mikhail looked down, not quite sure what to do. Jin had defended him, but Jin was also letting him remain tied to a chair, so Mikhail still wasn't happy with him, not by a long shot.

Preventing him from being beaten up was good. Mikhail was...not happy that he'd done that, exactly, just- he felt sort of proud. That Jin considered him as worth protecting. "It's going to be okay," Jin said quietly. "You'll be fine. I won't let him hurt you. There's- no need to cry, Mikhail." He was crying? Mikhail reached up to touch his face, scowling when he felt a couple of tears on his cheek. Hastily he scrubbed them away, furiously looking down at the floor.

"It's okay," Jin said again, and then he sat down on the floor. He didn't get any closer, he just...sat there. It took a while, but Mikhail was eventually able to stop the tears from coming. He'd been scared. It was fine to cry when you were scared. It was better than any other involuntary reaction to fear. Malos had stormed off somewhere, presumably to go punch something until it broke or died, and Mikhail found that he felt just a little better without him in the room. Just a little less scared.

"You don't have to be afraid anymore," Jin said, raising his body a little so he was in a crouching position. "And if you feel like telling me what happened so I can help, you're free to do so or not do so at any time. Regardless, you're safer here than out on the streets." With that, he hesitantly stretched out an arm, and when Mikhail didn't object, he gave him a loose hug. It felt...nice. That didn't mean he was going to talk to Jin about what had happened to him, though. He was going to sit here in silence for as long as it took Jin to let him go, and then he was going to run far and hopefully never see Malos again.

"You didn't deserve this," Jin said, his voice taking on a harder tone again. "This world is heartless. It has no way to distinguish between good or evil, and you have to fight back against that. I swear, the person who did whatever happened to you...they won't get away from me alive." Mikhail looked down at the floor even more furiously, really not wanting to cry in front of Jin. He didn't want to look weak. He desperately didn't want to need comfort from someone who had betrayed him.

"Can you read?" He asked, and Mikhail just looked at him. Of course he could read. He'd been trapped on a titan which actually had a proper school for a year. Before that, he'd lived in a village where they taught the children. He spent a moment glaring at Jin through still-watery eyes before realising that he hadn't got the message, so he nodded.

"Good." Jin turned away, disappearing into another room for a minute. When he came back, he was holding a book. "If we're keeping you here, you may as well have something to do." Reflexively, Mikhail almost thanked him, but instead he just took the book and put it down next to him. He didn't want Jin to see him taking an active interest in it. But...he did know he was going to get bored. And he'd missed reading. He'd been living in the moment for ages and stopping and doing something else would probably be...good. he supposed.

Jin sat back down opposite him, and Mikhail could feel eyes burning into him. He kept looking at his lap, not wanting to meet Jin's gaze. He didn't trust himself not to say something if he did. Eventually, he got bored. Staring at his knees was boring. So he hesitantly picked up the book, not wanting to meet Jin's eyes. He didn't want to see Jin having the satisfaction of being right. So without even looking at the front cover of the book, he flipped to the first page. It was a book about ships. Not titan ships, but ships that ran on fuel. It was undeniably interesting, to Mikhail's irritation. Why did Jin know him so well?

So he sat and he read. And after a little while, Malos came back, but he didn't argue with Jin this time. He glared for a bit, but he didn't even say anything, and it was quiet in the room and it was almost nice. He'd been fed and he didn't have to go out to steal from strangers that night and he wasn't going to be too cold when he went to sleep. It wasn't good, and he still wanted to leave, but it wasn't the worst it could be.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading :) if you enjoyed this, please consider leaving a comment because it really does mean a lot. It's impossible to gauge how people feel about fanfics if no one says anything!


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